to the harvest of wheat and linseed. They receive for their services food, board, and 6 or 7 per cent. of the gross profit of 100 hectares. They put the sums received during three or four years out at interest, and have then sufficient money to buy the necessary implements and to become tenant farmers. Three or four years later they buy land on the instalment system, and finally become large land-owners; one may count by the hundred those who have followed this course, have become the proprietors of wide tracts of land, and have to-day made large fortunes.

As soon as he is a land-owner the colonist or farmer has already an almost certain future before him, as the net profits he obtains each year accumulate in geometrical progression, unless some fatality pursues him: a thing that is of sufficiently rare occurrence. To gain some idea of his net profits, we turn to the following details, which are drawn from a competent source:

Approximate Estimate of the Expenses and the Yield of 247 acres of land sown with Wheat.

Expenses.
£S.D.
Preparing the soil.—Two ploughings and a raking, at 2s. 31⁄3d. per acre2832
Sowing, drilling and harrowing, at 3·38d. per acre3105
Seed.—238 bushels of seed corn, at £8,16s. per ton5740
Harvest.— Reaping and stacking, at 4s. 2·68d. per acre52160
Thrashing.—4400 bushels (120 tons) of grain, at 17s. 6d. per ton105120
Sacks.—1500, at 5·024d. each2680
Transport.—To granary, port or station, 120 tons at 8s. 8d. per ton52160
Rent.—247 acres, at 8s. 6·6d. per acre (approx.)105120
General expenses.—Repairs, tools, dilapidations, wages, hire of machinery, etc.52160
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Total£484177
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Receipts.
£S.D.
Sale of 120 tons (4400 bushels) of wheat, at £6, 3s. 21⁄2d. per ton (3s. 4·28d. perbushel)[48]73940
Expenses of growth and preparation484177
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Settler’s net profit£25475
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[48] At the present price (22 francs per 100 kilos, or about £8, 16s. per ton) the sale would produce £1056, a net profit of £571. This is unusual.

In short, a profit of about one pound per acre.

The above figures relate to the property known as “La Vizcaina,” in the Department of Bolivar; it consists of 123,800 acres of agricultural land, or 183 square miles, and is the largest agricultural farm in the Republic belonging to a single owner or held by a single tenant. It must be mentioned that, on the whole, the land is high; it has never been invaded by locusts; the depth of the mould or upper soil is considerable, and the property has two railway stations built upon it and a third about 21⁄2 miles distant, which facilitate the despatch of the harvests.

The above figures do not give a precise idea of the farmer’s situation, since agricultural land is let for four years, and in four years, six harvests may be obtained (three of wheat and three of maize), which sensibly diminishes the cost of working and increases the profits in proportion.

We may use the same table as relating to linseed, substituting £7, 18s. 6d. per ton, or thereabouts, for the sowing, and £1, 1s. per ton for thrashing. In this district linseed-farming is accompanied by certain risks, on account of the scanty rain and the late frosts; sometimes the harvest is 7, 8, or 10 quintals (metric) per hectare; but it is usually only 3 or 4.[49]